Learning, researching, and developing useful references are high in my list of activities that I am passionate about.  I’ve been writing articles about Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ), Social Media, Social Media Optimization ( SMO), among other business related topics that can be found in the Stable Solution Chronicles. I have not written a lot about Search Engine Marketing ( SEM) , but it is also a service that I offer as part of my business. To start with, it is important to understand some basic terminology.

Search Engine Marketing is using paid listings to market and promote a website.

When it comes to search engines there are two types of listings:

Paid listings are exactly that. Sites are listed based on keywords and on the price paid to display the listing. There are also various factors that search engines use to rank and display their paid listing results.

Natural or Organic listing are free listings, which are determined by each search engines’ algorithms. Google for instance uses over 200 measures to determine page ranking. Sites built for page ranking based on organic methods use Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) to make the site friendlier for search engines to determine the relevance of the material related to specifice key words.

Benefits of using paid advertising is that as a site owner, you have more control over how, when and where your site is found than using organic methods. Both methods have validity for different reasons.

Paid listings on search engines either  charge on a Pay-Per-Click basis ( PPC ) or a Cost-Per-Thousand-Impressions ( CPM).  With PPC,  ads are only paid for when they are clicked on versus CPM which tracks every time your ad is displayed for billing purposes.

When you decide to use paid advertising you are either trying to get an action from viewers in the form of a direct response, which may be clicking through to your website, making an online purchase, requesting information, or signing up for a newsletter. The goal is to have the user complete the desired action. This is called conversion. Sometimes, the goal is to build recognition for your product or company. This is called branding.

Before spending money on SEO or SEM, I feel very strongly about defining the goals, so that money spent on marketing is money well spent. Don’t rush and jump in without taking time to develop goals. I often see businesses do this, which can be very expensive and does not necessarily deliver the desired results.